Resources to support better understanding of kidney health and Acute Kidney Injury

NHS Improvement have issued a stage two alert to continue to raise awareness of AKI and signpost clinicians from all care settings, including GPs and community pharmacists, to a set of resources developed by Think Kidneys.

Sepsis toolkit for GPs – a reminder

The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), in partnership with Health Education England and NHS England, recently launched a new sepsis toolkit to support GPs and healthcare professionals to identify and manage the condition in patients.

Fosfomycin 3g sachets – a reminder

Prescribing fosfomycin as Monuril® is currently considerably more cost-effective than prescribing it generically.

What is the most appropriate antidepressant to use in patients with epilepsy?

This updated Medicines Q&A from the Specialist Pharmacy Service evaluates the published information available on the most appropriate choice of antidepressant for patients with epilepsy. A link to the document can be found here

Resources to support answering medicines-related questions in primary care

NHS Specialist Pharmacy Service has published a guide suggesting resources for use in primary care to answer questions about medicines. Most of the resources are freely available online.

The document includes sections on general resources and guidelines, administration of medicines, adverse drug reactions, breast feeding, children, complementary medicines, contraception and family planning, diagnostic tests, drug interactions, drug misuse, drug stability/ pharmaceutical issues, identification of medicines, immunisation and vaccines, mental health, new medicines and horizon scanning, palliative care, patent expiry, poisoning and toxicity, pregnancy, and travel medicine.

Managing the Christmas prescription workload with eRD

The Electronic Repeat Dispensing (eRD) function within the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) allows prescribers to authorise and issue a batch of repeatable prescriptions for up to 12 months with just one digital signature. GP practices using EPS are on average sending over half of their prescriptions electronically, but eRD makes up less than 12% of these.

NICE NG 56 Multimorbidity: clinical assessment and management

A new briefing guide has been added to the NECS MO website – NICE NG 56 Multimorbidity: clinical assessment and management The document can be found here

What is a suitable combined oral contraceptive pill in a patient who is taking hepatic enzyme-inducing drugs, such as carbamazepine, phenytoin, rifampicin or rifabutin?

This updated Medicines Q&A provides advice on a suitable oral contraceptive that can be used in a woman using an enzyme-inducing anti-epileptic or anti-tubercle drug. Suitable oral contraception for a patient taking an enzyme-inducing drug such as carbamazepine or phenytoin, is a combination of two COCs that contain the same progestogen and give a combined total of at least 50 micrograms of ethinylestradiol. The tricycling regimen is recommended, taking three or four cycles without a pill-free interval, then a shorter four-day pill-free break.  These recommendations do not apply to very potent enzyme inducers such as rifampicin and rifabutin. The use […]